How Much Does Pest Control Cost in 2018? Monthly? One Time?

Insects like ants and roaches can be a big problem in your home, but it can be undetected for a long time. Eventually, you will be dealing with a large infestation. You may have even tried some DIY pest control by using products like roach motels, ant traps, boric acid, or other types of commercially available sprays such as Ortho, Raid, and Black Flag. Some of these products may be effective whenever they are first noticed, like when you see a small hornet’s nest. Then in some cases like battling roach or ant infestations, all they do is just hold the line. They do not take the battle back to the lairs of the pest.

The average cost to hire insect control service can range between $110 to $270 depending on the issue. Hiring a professional is often the best way to remove pests from your home, not just convince them to stay out of sight. If you are concerned about costs of calling a professional to deal with pests, then here are some things to consider.

While you know to avoid fire ants, black widows and scorpions, your pets and children may not.

Even an insect like a pincher bug can leave feces and eggs in your food.

Most pests can carry diseases like hantavirus (rats and mice) and salmonella (cockroaches).

Biting and stinging insects can range from painful when attacked to deadly.

Some insects will be wood boring and that can damage the structure of your house and cost you thousands to repair, or it can make your home unlivable structurally.

These are just a few reasons to call a professional. Not only can they save you money, but they may save your life and your home.

Monthly Pest Control or One-time removal?

If you have never had insect issues in your home before and just suddenly start to see the signs, then call a professional for a one-time removal. However, if you begin to notice that you that you an on-going insect issue, then you may want to hire a professional on a contract basis.

It is in these types of cases that you would pay monthly, or even quarterly fees for the professional to come to your home on a scheduled basis to stop any insect infestation before it starts or begins again. You may pay more for a contract over the years, but if it keeps pests out permanently, then it is worth the cost.

The service cost may depend on various factors such as size of the home, type of pests, and frequency of the visit.

Frequency of the Visits

There are some professionals that compare what they do to house cleaning: the longer that you go between cleanings then the harder that it will be to get the job done. It is for this reason that a professional will have higher costs for the initial visit which will often have cheaper visits for maintenance.

Whenever you are researching prices, it is vital that you learn if the estimates are for the initial visit, a one-time visit, or a quarterly, semi-monthly, or regular monthly visit.

One Time

The normal one time visit for pest control will be between $310 to $560. This is higher than most averages because it is a single visit. It is in these cases that there is normally a lot of work to be done including an assessment of the infestation, finding the lair, and finding the entry points of the house.

Initial

The normal initial visit can range between $175 to $190. This is for the assessment, finding the nest, and finding entry points as well as making arrangements for visits, which are normally done through contract. Some contracts like quarterly contracts, may include a stipulation that state if you have an issue between visits, that any treatments will be provided free. Be sure to ask about that.

Semi, Monthly or Quarterly Pest Control Costs

Periodic visits can be quarterly which is every 3 months, semi-monthly which is every two months, or monthly.

Quarterly pest control costs: $110 to $310

Semi-monthly pest control costs: $60 to $70

Monthly pest control costs: $45 to $50

There are 2 factors that may increase the costs which are the property size and infestation level. The costs that are above are for an average 1500 square foot home. Additional square footage can add to those costs, but not by much. There are some professionals will charge an extra $30 per 1000 square feet over the 1500 square foot limit. However, a larger infestation will cost more based on things such as the damage down and the pest type. Talk about this during the inspection.

Which pests will need ongoing treatment?

There are some pests that can be removed within one to two visits. Squirrels and raccoons can be dealt with by removing food sources and blocking access to their nests. Some ant issues can be dealt with by trimming tree branches and other access highways that they and other pests may use. Bees can be dealt with sometimes for free by a beekeeper who will relocate the queen and hive to their inventory. Sometimes it is a single visit such as removing a snake that has wandered on to the property and into your crawlspace or wall.

Other pests may keep coming back. Ants, fleas, rats, mice, ticks, termites, spiders and roaches are the most common pests that come back. Your house is a great food source and nesting place. Even if you take precautions and keep things spotless, they can still be there. They may come out at night looking for anything left behind and eventually wander further into your home.

Regular maintenance is a great way to deal with this. Whether it is a quarterly, semi-monthly, or monthly visit should be based on how bad the issue is.

Climate can even influence the severity and type of issue. Dry, warm areas can cause severe issues like pests who are seeking shade and a cooler place to live. Humid, warm areas may attract some insects that may eat the moldy or wet wood but then start eating the dry, good wood. However, in the colder climates, dry or wet, insects like the roach, earwig and even ladybugs will look for the warmth in your home. Even the wasps will leave their nests and larvae to live in your attic as well as other warm places within your home.

Unless you are living within a temperate zone, you should consider regular visits from a professional.

What type of pest do you have?

The very first step is to identify the pest that you have. Some pests will come around because other pests, so do not just assume that because you caught a single mouse that mice are going to be the only issue. For instance, if you have wolf spider issues, then you could have an issue with their common prey which is a cockroach.

The most common pests that can be found in a home are:

Woodlice

Weevils

Termites

Squirrels

Spiders (most spiders will eat other insects as well as avoid people, but a web can gather a bunch of allergens and dust.)

Mice

Flies

Earwigs

Crickets (quite noisy, but they can leave feces)

Centipedes (if you are allergic to bee stings then you may be allergic to centipede bites too)

Beetles

Cockroaches

Bed bugs

Ants

Silverfish (they aren’t poisonous, but they can do damage to books, fabrics, and other materials)

Rats

Raccoons

moths

It doesn’t matter if these pests happen to be poisonous or if they bring disease by feces or parasites, the overall fact is they don’t belong within your house. They can be destructive for your home and a danger to your health. There are some cases that it could drive up your living costs. Raccoons for instance, can destroy your insulation to create nests.

To deal with the issue, contact insect control services right away.

Pest Control Prices List

$250. Ants

$1200. Termites

$250. Bats

$1,000. Bed Bugs

$350. Bees

$50. Lice

$250. Carpet Beetles

$300. Cockroaches

$350. Dust Mites

$250. Fleas

$250. Ticks

$200. Mice

$180. Weevils

$300. Rats

$200. Spiders

$350. Wasps

$100. Scorpions

How many pests do you have in your home?

When it comes to pest control a good motto is the soon the better. It is easier, quicker, and cheaper to remove the pests by catching them before they have had time to reproduce. Unfortunately, by the time that you have noticed the first one, it is too late for that.

Once insects have time to lay eggs, grow, form colonies, it will be come a serious issue. Some people can accept that insects will be seen time to time, and don’t take any steps during the first sighting. They don’t call a professional until it has become a big problem. This is a very expensive way to deal with it and gives pests plenty of time to major damage.

So, how many pests are in your home? Most likely more than you realize. Here are the production rates for two common pests that you will come across, roaches and mice:

Roaches: A female cockroach can produce between 4 and 8 egg capsules during her life. Each capsule will have between 30 to 50 eggs for reproduction rate of 120 to 400 eggs during a single year. A roach will reach maturity between 40 to 130 days depending on the temperature as warmer will make them grow faster, so in about a month you can see an increase of 1500 to 19000 roaches in a year.

Mice: A single female will produce between 5 to 10 litters every year. The litters will contain 5 to 6 young which can reproduce in 30 days. So, after a single month of giving birth, that 5 to 6 mice can grow to 25 to 60. Now multiply that by a single year and you will get between 300 to 720 mice.

For pests like these that have production rates, a regular visit from a professional are needed. The program for this is a control and maintenance because total removal is impossible.

Damage that is caused by pests

You may think that they are saving some money by not hiring professionals to deal with the pests or insect issue. In a sense you are. After all the cost of a can of bug spray or mousetraps is cheap compared to a professional.

The issue with insects which is often overlooked is the damage that they can do to your home and the cost of repairing the damage. Insects can eat through clothing, lay eggs in your home, and if they are termites it can cause structural damage to the home. They can spread germs and bacteria that can make your household sick. In the long run, it is cheaper to deal with the issue right away instead of waiting and fix it later.

Here are the more common pests and what kind of damage that they can do if left alone:

Carpenter Ants: They can leave damage that an untrained eye can mistake for termites. To learn the difference check for tunnels. A carpenter ant will leave a smooth, sanded like appearance while the termite’s tunnels are packed with mud like substances and will be rough. Carpenter ants don’t eat wood, but instead they carve out wet wood and farm and grow fungus and molds for food. These tunnels can weaken the wood. Once the wood is weakened, high winds, heavy snowfall, or various stress may cause the wood structure to collapse. These insects can do a lot of damage which ranges between $6500 to $15,000.

Mice: Mice are able to do a lot of damage to your food. They can eat it; their feces can find its way into cereals and grains. Like rats, mice will leave a urine scented trail where they go. Most diseases that are brought by mice are rabies, Hantavirus, foot and mouth, and salmonella. They will contaminate everything by leaving body waste and hairs everywhere and where there are mice there will be fleas. Mice will eat insulation off wiring. It is believed that about 30% of fires with an unknown origin are caused by rats and mice chewing on the insulation of wiring. The damage could be a few dollars to replace the food to thousands as your house burns and takes everything with it.

Termites: Unlike the carpenter ant, a termite can eat the wood. Termites can cause a lot of damage to your home. Termites cause about $5 billion in damages to homes every year. That is more than earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, floods and fires combined. Keep your eye out for termite swarms in early spring. If you see them on your property, then call a professional right away. Otherwise, you may end up paying thousands for repairs to your home.

The damage that you don’t want to think about is psychological. Most people have had the experience of swatting bugs but not seeing where it had gone and not being sure that they killed it. For a bit, every tickle feels like insects crawling on the skin. Just imagine having this type of sensation for life. Those who have had to live with an infestation will often mistake sensations for pests and insects and will never believe that their home is clean enough. Even though this sounds minor, it can be a heavy burden for many people and eventually it may cause a severe phobia.

In Conclusion

The best time for you to call a professional is before the pests and insects become a problem. Just waiting until you are tired of dealing with them will cost you a lot more in the long run both in terms of health and money.